Today, you are all invited to a buffet party. For this occasion, I prepared a tray of red mini pizzas, to be served alongside the recipes from my colleagues in the Light and Tasty Team, which, as always, you will find linked at the end. And you’ll discover, drum roll, that the list of recipes is richer than usual because today we’re celebrating an anniversary!
These days, our Monday column – in which I’ve been participating for (only) three years – is celebrating its 10th anniversary. Ten years during which we have uninterruptedly presented our recipes every Monday, all dedicated to light, healthy, natural cooking (or at least we tried 😊).
During this decade, many bloggers have participated in the column, some for short periods, others for longer. And one of us, the legendary Elena, founder of the group and a constant presence from day one without interruptions, deserves a special party all for herself!
And so, thanks to a happy idea from Elena herself, we thought of inviting our former adventure companions from the Team to our buffet, each with their own recipe cooked for the occasion.
The buffet table is set, there’s something for every taste!
Are you ready? Grab a plate and a napkin, and help yourself!
😃
Ah, maybe it’s a good idea to also add something to drink on the buffet table… I’ll take care of it!! (but only non-alcoholic drinks eh! 😀). Choose from these three ideas! 👇👇👇
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Economical
- Rest time: 8 Hours
- Preparation time: 15 Minutes
- Portions: 12
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients
- 4 cups type 2 flour
- 0.6 liquid sourdough starter
- 1 cup water
- 1.5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1/3 tomato sauce
- aromatic herbs (basil, oregano, thyme, tarragon)
- green pepper, chili, capers (optional)
Tools
- Stand Mixer
- Baking Tray
- Parchment Paper
- Spatula
Steps
For these red mini pizzas, I prepared a very simple dough, made only with type 2 flour, water, a little oil, and liquid sourdough starter. Exceptionally compared to my recent habits (using excess starter, because I always have a lot), this time I did a semi-refresh of the starter before using it.
Pour 0.6 cups of liquid sourdough starter into the stand mixer’s bowl.
Add 0.4 cups of flour and 0.4 cups of water.
Mix well with a spoon or spatula.
Let it rest until a good number of bubbles form on the surface (in this case, it took 2 hours).
At this point, pour the remaining 3.6 cups of flour, two tablespoons of oil, and 0.7 cups of water and start kneading with the dough hook.
I added the remaining 0.1 cups of water in two steps (0.05+0.05 cups) towards the end of kneading, after evaluating the consistency of the dough.
☝ It is always a good practice not to use all the water (or other liquids) indicated in the recipe ingredients right away. One must always take into account some variables, particularly that the absorption capacity of flours is not always the same.
Kneading time: 10 minutes at speed 2.
When the dough has doubled (after about 8 hours), divide it into 12 or more portions (if you want to make smaller ones than mine) and gently flatten them with your fingertips.
Place the mini pizzas on a baking tray covered with parchment paper.
Spread a teaspoon of tomato sauce on each mini pizza and add basil, oregano, or other aromatic herbs of your choice.
A drizzle of oil is optional.
Bake the whole wheat red mini pizzas in the oven at 392°F for 20-25 minutes.
I shouldn’t say (because I’m biased 😄) but they are excellent! Our whole wheat red mini pizzas were a hit here, and they were so soft that someone (but I’ll never say who!) cut them in half and filled them! A good idea to make mini stuffed sandwiches for the next buffet, don’t you think?
And here is a plate of stacked mini pizzas ready for the buffet, with mixed herbs: thyme, oregano, basil, tarragon, and chili, some with capers, and others with green pepper. The green pepper is perfect! And indeed, they disappeared first!
Advice Without Salt
I remind you that I cook without adding salt 😉 If you want to know more, I invite you to read my article Cooking without salt, my journey and to join my group.
If you are interested in reducing or eliminating salt, always remember to:
▫ Decrease salt gradually, the palate must gradually get used to it and should not notice the progressive reduction.
▫ Use spices. Chili, pepper, curry, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, cumin…
▫ Use aromatic herbs. Basil, parsley, oregano, thyme, sage, marjoram, rosemary, mint…
▫ Use seeds. Sesame, pine nuts, almonds, walnuts…
▫ Use spicy vegetables or fruits. Garlic, onion, lemon, orange…
▫ Use my salt-free vegetable granule and gomasio
▫ Prefer fresh foods.
▫ Avoid cooking in water, prefer methods that do not disperse flavors (grill, foil, steam, microwave)
▫ Avoid bringing the salt shaker to the table!
▫ Allow yourself occasionally a break from the rule. It’s good for morale and helps perseverance.
If you don’t want or can’t give up salt:
▫ You can still try my recipes by salting according to your habits.
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Light and Tasty Recipes
Light and Tasty Recipes
And now here are all the recipes that my colleagues from the Light and Tasty Team have prepared for this buffet party:
Carla Emilia: Salt cod, potato, and tomato cupcakes
Daniela: Swirls with sundried tomatoes and almonds
Elena: Lemon and ricotta cake
Milena: Fillo pastry triangles with pumpkin and mushrooms and avocado sauce
Serena: Buffet salad
And below you’ll find the special guest recipes. Thanks to everyone for participating! 🤩
Cinzia: Chocolate cake with rice flour
Consu: Vegan pumpkin muffins
Eva: Savory carrot pancakes
Maria Grazia: Cuttlefish and artichokes
Mary: Baked frittatas with pumpkin and mushrooms
Simona: Buckwheat cookies with honey, pine nuts, and tonka bean (sugar-free)
Tania: Baked pears
